


Catharsis

by Insecuriosity



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Beating, Fear of Death, Gen, Poor Life Choices, Revenge, Spitefic, a thief gets her reward, and they want to do more than just beat millibelle up, comeuppance, the knight is angry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 17:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18319673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insecuriosity/pseuds/Insecuriosity
Summary: Millibelle has come on tough times, and tough times call for desperate decisions. She's never been a gambler - but the odds are good. If she steals just this once, she will never have to do it again. Set for life with the past far behind her!Of course, she is never that lucky.





	Catharsis

If there was one thing Millibee enjoyed about the infection, it was the complete freedom that it allowed her. Society’s slow crumble had first been a hassle – people all wanting to withdraw from their accounts, the Geo value plummeting like a rock in water… but as more and more bugs succumbed to the infection and the danger continued to rise, Millibee found that there were silver linings to this thundercloud. More than she had expected, honestly.  
She could keep all the Geo of bugs that had died from the infection, for one! There weren’t as many shops open, but the ones that still operated were putting insane price tags on their goods, and Millibee wouldn’t have been able to afford them if it hadn’t been for her profession as a banker. Her shell was a great help as well for traversing Hallownest – the infected bugs never figured out that they could get to her through the gap at the top, and if she waited long enough, they would toddle on by so she could continue her journey. Slow, but effective! 

Still it only took a couple of years before her mountain of Geo began to grow smaller. The cream that she used to ache the pains in her joints and shell was becoming more expensive by the day, and she had already scavenged all the houses she could get to. Of course she _could_ just venture deeper into Hallownest, but they it would take twice as long to reach the hot springs and the merchant, essentially rendering the effort useless.  
There was still the odd adventurer or two that handed her some Geo for safekeeping, but it was not nearly enough, and most of them returned to withdraw it within a handful of hours. There was nothing left to invest into, interest had lost its appeal to the few clients she still had, and it was getting hard to justify keeping her little business open. 

She let out a sigh and rubbed her aching hands. Why oh why did bughands have so many joints in them? She hoped that that travelling vendor would come by soon with more cream and food – she was running out. 

She should have left Hallownest right when the infection started to gain momentum. She hadn’t dared, not with all the royal caste bugs entrusting their thousands of Geo to her, but she should have taken the plunge. She would have been able to buy a dragonfly ride all the way to Mossburrow, live in the lap of luxury and establish a new little business there.  
Now she was stuck here, and the price of dragonfly rides had become so extortionate that she wouldn’t be surprised if the dragonfly riders no longer visited Hallownest. She had no way to really know – she hadn’t been up there since the stag stations closed down, which was another reason why she was still here. She could make it out on foot, probably, given a week or so, but she would need some form of transportation to truly leave Hallownest behind, and it wouldn’t be cheap. 

She really, really should have left earlier. She still had a seventy-five Geo in her shell from a warrior that had opened an account, but would it be enough to buy a trip away from here?... What if it wasn’t, and the warrior came to look for her? Oh, she should have left at the first sign of trouble, and damn the whole ‘image of stability and trustworthyness’!  
She sighed. She would just have to raise the price of opening an account, and hope that a new influx of warriors would find her bank and open an account. 

The soft tapping of footsteps jolted her out of her thoughts, and she looked down the hallway. A tiny bug, barely bigger than a fruitfly, stepped up to her counter and tilted its head in a questioning manner. 

“Hello there dearie. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone here. In fact, I was thinking about packing up and leaving altogether.” Millibelle said, a little more honestly than she had intended to be. Was this little thing a warrior? The nail strapped to its back seemed to imply so, but Millibelle had a hard time believing that it could use it.  
“I provide banking services, I keep your Geo safe for when you are on the road! Are you interested in opening up an account? It’s only se- a hundred Geo. You look like you could use it – Hallownest has a lot of nasties out there waiting to empty your pockets.”

The little bug tilted its head the other way, seemingly contemplative, and then stretched out a tiny black limb to hand her a neat pile of Geo. A hundred, to be precise.  
“A very wise decision, if I do say so myself.” Millibelle said. “Now, would you like to make a deposit? I’ll keep it safe for you in my sh-… my vault.” 

The little bug nodded its head, and a moment later a heaping mountain of Geo appeared from under the ragged little cloak. Millibelle could barely supress her surprise. Where did a little mite like that find so many Geo? How? Would it even fit into her shell?  
With practised movements she organised the fossils into stacks of five, counting out the exact number. Four thousand and five hundred Geo. It was a small fortune, even in this day and age.

“I’ll keep it safe. You can come back here anytime to writhdraw it.” She said to the little mayfly in front of her counter as she put the Geo away. It looked at her with an expression so blank that she wondered if it could read her thoughts – or otherwise sense the sudden excitement that was brewing under her shell.  
The little thing turned, and strode out of the room with a gait that would have looked purposeful and daring if it had had a more intimidating physique. Millibelle played with a Geo in her hands as she watched it leave. 

She was never going to have this much Geo again if she stayed in Hallownest. Each time the travelling merchant dropped by so she could buy her ointment and food, there was a chance he would not come back another time. Every time she ventured out of her safe little spot, her joints hurt more, and getting back took longer and longer. 

What if she just… left? It went against everything she’d learned about being a banker. Clients didn’t deposit their Geo with bugs they didn’t trust after all, and word spread quickly when it came to Geo. But really, what use did Millebelle have for a good reputation? A good reputation didn’t buy her pain alleviating cream, or a dragonfly ride to Mossburrow.  
She turned a Geo over in her hands. It was against the law to steal – and breaching a contract had even worse ramifications. Except, there was no more law in Hallownest, was there? There wasn’t a city guard anymore, unless you counted the infected bodies still walking around. What did law mean in a world where it wasn’t enforced?

She looked down at a Geo piece that had been deposited by the little mite. That bug would most certainly come back for its Geo at some point, if it survived at all. Very unlikely that it would, actually. What was really the harm? It had collected a lot of Geo, it could surely collect more for itself. Millibelle couldn’t. It had come here of its own free will, probably with illusions of grandure and glory – Millibelle had gotten stuck here, obligated to cater to rich clients that never bothered to let her know they had caught the infection! 

The choice was made. She stood up from her makeshift bank, and began walking down the hall. Her first stop was the bath house in the City of tears, a trip she had made so often she could almost dream it, and she settled into the soothing warm water.  
It was both odd and exhilarating to know that she would not return to her home in the Fog canyon. She had taken all of her rationed food with her to the hot spring, and there would be no going back. Hallownest had been her home for her entire life, and she’d only ever left it for business, and here she was – ready to start a new life. It had seemed like a stressful choice in the Fog canyon, but the bath house had given her a new perspective. She was letting go of the past, and stepping into something new. 

She didn’t have to be a banker if she went to Mossburrow. Why, she didn’t even have to go to Mossburrow specifically! She could head anywhere she wanted, be anything she wanted! … As long as there were hot springs and pain alleviating ointments that was – she was aiming for comfort. She wasn’t getting any younger after all.  
Still, she had choices. She still had some time to decide where to go, what to do, and what to spend her Geo on. Why not stay in the hot spring a little as she thought it over? She sighed in bliss, and snuggled a little deeper into the water. 

\- 

Back in the Fog canyon at her makeshift bank, an impassive white face stared at the empty counter. A nail flashed out from where it had been strapped to its back, and the flimsy structure collapsed into a pile of rubble.  
The little creature looked down at the rubble, and then paced to the exit. Right before it passed the banking sign, it struck the pole with its nail, neatly cutting it in half and letting the top end clatter to the ground.

\- 

Millibelle had stayed longer than she had planned. She had always dreaded having to go all the way back to her post, but that was how banking worked – there had to be someone at the counter to receive guests and establish trust. Well, now Millibelle was free from all that, and she could stay in the bath house for as long as she wanted!  
She sighed. She’d almost forgotten what pain felt like – the water was just that soothing and pleasant. Oh, if she had left earlier, she might have been able to purchase a home with an in-built hot spring! If Millibelle could go back in time and change one thing, it would be that. She could just make off with the combined Geo of all the royal bugs in the City of Tears, and be comfortable and happy knowing that everyone in Hallownest was too dead or too sick to come after her for their Geo. 

A soft splash startled her out of her thoughts and she snapped her eyes open. 

At the other end of the bath stood the little bug. There was still no expression on its face, or really any kind of sign that they were angry at her at all, but they were here. Millibelle was frozen where she sat. 

It walked up to her, the water of the bath almost coming up to its chin, and it tilted its head at her – just as it had done when it had first met her. Was it just her, or did it seem more menacing than back then? She couldn’t seem to look away from the nail strapped to the bug’s back.  
“Oh h-hello dearie. I didn’t think I would r-run into you here, haha.” She stammered. Oh dear oh dear, she was putting her foot in her mouth! “A-are you looking for your Geo? W-well, I’m sorry to say it’s, ah, all gone. B-banking fees you see, it was in the small print.” 

It said nothing. Millibelle couldn’t remember if it had spoken before. Despite the heat of the bath she was sitting in, she could feel icy cold sweat beginning to form in her neck.  
“It had to come out of your account, since there were no other accounts a-at all. I had to s-stop banking because it was getting u-unsustainable. You understand r-right?”

The little bug did nothing, as if waiting for something. 

“No hard f-feelings?” Millibelle wagered.

Apparently, that had been the wrong thing to say. The little bug drew its nail and Millibelle screamed as the sharp edge bit into the shell protecting her stomach. The force was immense – far beyond what a body that small should have been able to do. Her whole body was lifted into the air and her stomach turned as she tumbled through the air, all of the Geo inside of her shell flying around and pelting her like vengeful little rocks.  
She had barely made a new bruise by landing before there was another strike of a nail against her shell, and she was sent flying again. This time her shell impacted a wall before it dropped to the ground, and she was sure that she was going to vomit. She could hear the sound of Geo scattering on the floor and rolling into the water, and with a sick lurch she wondered if it was going to be satisfied with just getting its Geo back. 

It struck again and again, tossing her about like a toy. Into the water, out of the water, against the wall, hammered with full force from above, and Millibelle clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut through it all. No creature had ever broken through her shell, but this thing – this horrible little thing – was trying far harder than most. She could _hear_ chips flying off her shell, and she could barely breathe through the fear that the nail would break through and crack her open like a crawlid.  
Then…. A pause. A half-hearted push, rolling her over. There was no more Geo inside of her shell. Everything that she’d stolen from it and all that remained of her savings was out there. Was it done? There was another light push that rocked her back and forth, and she whimpered. 

The thing rolled her shell upright, this time without the use of its nail or frightening strength, and a moment later Millibelle learned where its nail was. It was being pushed in through the head-hole in her shell, the sharp tip carefully poking downwards to where she had curled herself up at the bottom.  
“No- no please!” She screamed. “You have your Geo back – you have all of _MY_ Geo, please please -!” 

The nail didn’t stop poking inside, but it didn’t stab deep enough to reach her, and Millibelle blurted out a hysterical little laugh. The little things arms were too short! It couldn’t reach her! Maybe now it would finally, finally leave her-  
There was another smack against her shell, and before she could cry out there was water flowing into the hole of her shell. The air pockets inside of her shell that should have been keeping her afloat were not working as they should, and with a growing panic she realised that the bug was holding her down. It was trying to drown her! 

She moved to poke her limbs and head back out of her shell, and nearly took in a breath of water as the bug’s nail cut into her arm. She shot back into the safety of her shell out of pure instinct, and stared at the cut that was starting to well with blood. Already it was mixing with the water that was pouring into her shell – the air was escaping so fast, and she couldn’t think, couldn’t think-! Death by nail or water?  
The water was up to her head now, despite how much she’d dared to reach for the remaining air, and she couldn’t get herself to calm down enough to stop hyperventilating. She held her breath as the water got too high for her to breathe though, and scrambled for a plan – any plan better than just popping her head out and hoping for the best. 

Her lungs started to burn, and she fought back the urge to gasp for air. She couldn’t hold on - it was now or never. She popped her limbs and head out of her shell as quickly as she could and pushed off from the bottom of the pool – gasping in wonderful wonderful breaths of air even as she dragged herself out of that death trap of a pool.  
She couldn’t get enough air, no matter how deeply she breathed, and even though she had swallowed no water she couldn’t stop coughing and retching where she was. The blood from her cut ran down her arm and mingled with the water that was slowly running out of her shell. 

She turned around, and the little bug was sitting on the bench at the other end of the pool, scribbling onto a map with a black quill – looking to all the world as if it hadn’t just attempted to murder her!

Except, there were no more laws in Hallownest, were there? She’d thought it herself – why bother to uphold laws when nobody was around to enforce them? If the little bug wanted to kill her, it would, and she would just be one of the many many corpses littering the streets – waiting for the infection to creep in her carapace and puppet her around.  
She sucked in a few more deep breaths, and carefully watched the bug as it hopped off the bench and walked towards the doorway. When it reached her, it flicked out its nail again, catching her on the shell with a tap that barely rocked her in place. She still shot into her shell like it had touched an exposed nerve, and waited with baited breath for what it would do now. Surely it’d have enough of hurting her. 

The sound of its footsteps faded, and Millibelle peeked out of her shell. The hot spring was empty again, and aside from the puddle of blood-tinted water near the bench it looked like nothing had happened at all. She scooted her way over to the edge of the bath and carefully dangled her wounded arm into the water to wash any grime out of the cut.  
She had intended to leave for the crossroads soon, but instead of collecting her supplies and getting ready for a move, she let herself slip back into the bath – keeping a firm grip on the edge as she did so. With no Geo, she had nowhere to be. 

She looked up at the ceiling. She might as well stay here forever. At least she would never have aching joints again.

**Author's Note:**

> Millibelle did me dirty. End of the game, trying to 100%, finally found the final Pale Ore - not enough Geo to buy the final nail upgrade. Not looking forward to grinding, but thankfully I have 4500 in the bank, the max amount. I go there, and you all know what I found there.  
> I got a tip from someone on where to look, and I loved beating her around for all the cash she had stolen from me, and the hassle of tracking her down and shake it out of her. 
> 
> I wanted to kill her, or at the very least make her regret her decision more than she already did, and that is what spawned this fic. I wanted her to suffer, so this is what we got. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
